It depends. That’s part of what dev blogs are for; and generally what community managers are for:
CM: “Hey a lot of players are asking this.”
Dev: “Yeah it’s because x y and z”
CM: “Cool, I’ll relay that.”
Generally, a CM will have training on how to handle answers that can be super gnarly in a way that won’t become a disaster. A dev without that training (or a CM without that one) can be a liability (see: Helldivers right now).
Also, external stakeholders can be pretty strict on what can and can’t be shown. I remember having a back and forth on the creating Sienna dev blogs and had to very clearly lay out how we intended to show the in development work, what we’d show, what we wouldn’t, and the follow up and how this would help game sentiment. Game studios that aren’t 100% owning their IP can’t just throw stuff out there without multi-layered approvals.
Without that training or without going through the proper channels when communicating with players, promises can be made that the rest of the team aren’t aware of, information can leak, someone can lose their cool and say something untoward or show something external stakeholders haven’t approved yet, etc. In the end, devs are human like anyone else, and that comes with human feelings, and for better or for worse those need to be under control before interacting with unhappy players. That’s somewhat part of the CM’s job; to be that shield (and be the one getting doxxed or personally attacked) so the devs don’t have to (which…can be sucky, but a reality).
Not saying devs can’t, but there really should be media training first for them, and sometimes that’s not something all devs want to complete since it’s an extra time sink. (AH’s CEO not withstanding because he’s, well…the CEO; who will say no? 
) Some devs handle themselves well in these situations by default, and some don’t. You really gotta be strategic in choosing the devs in question if you go that route.